It seems that the only time you hear Jose Feliciano is at Christmas when every radio station pulls out his standard "Feliz Naviidad". A whole generation - or more - has missed this great talent. I was always a big fan and saw him in the early 1970s in concert.

What makes this DVD special is that's it's a 98 minutes recorded just SEVEN MONTHS AGO (as I write this) in August 2008 in a club in Paris, in front of an enthusiastic audience. Over the course of 20 songs, Feliciano shows that his fingers still fly across the guitar strings at lightening speed and the passion of his playing is still high. He does a mix of songs in Spanish as well as some covers of pop hits ("Rain", "Cherry,Cherry") with his own interpretation After his extended instrumental intro to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", he sings the words so that, for the first time, I could understand every word. It takes guts to cover Hendrix's "Purple Haze" but Feliciano does a more than competent job here.

He bookends the concert with the two songs - other than the aforementioned Christmas standard - that are best associated with him: "Chico and the Man" and, of course, "Light My Fire". The only bonus is his percussion solo.

If you are a JF fan, you'll want this. If you only know him from the opld, standards, check out this DVD. His supporting band - heavy on Latin percussion and keyboards, is fine, but it's Feliciano's figures that are the stars on the stage.

Steve Ramm"Anything Phonographic""

Jose Feliciano Band-The Paris Concert

Steve Wurster | 06/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No matter if you are a Jose Feliciano fan or not, you should see this DVD. I have been a fan of his since 1967 and he has never failed to amaze me with his talent. Jose has mastered everything he has ever recorded, be it a cover of the Doors "Light My Fire" or his own compositions "Rain" and "Chico and the Man". When I saw the song line up for this concert I thought, OK he is doing instrumentals of MJ's "Billie Jean" and Jimi's "Purple Haze" but I was wrong, He is still amazing. Hear what you love and love what you hear."